Sunday, April 24, 2011

Nor Easter

We had a nice, low-key Easter today. The boys got their baskets from the Easter Bunny, and Wife was nice enough not to wake me when they discovered the baskets at 7 a.m. We went to 11 a.m. Mass, which lasted until 12:30 thanks to a slightly longer homily, extra Mass parts for Easter, and a Communion bottleneck at the front of the church. Littlest was unusually fidgety during Mass -- he usually sits pretty well, but not today, although he was admittedly bouncy all day.

After getting home, I got outside with the boys for a little while. The morning weather was nice, but it turned cloudy and chilly by mid-afternoon, but at least we got out. The boys played with sidewalk chalk and a little wooden glider airplane Littlest was given last week, while I pulled some weeds and cleared the garden of some leaves from last fall. I wanted to mow the lawn -- I haven't yet this year -- but thought it wouldn't be the best thing for the neighbors to hear on Easter (hopefully tomorrow, weather permitting). We came back inside and watched "Jurassic Park" and had our Easter meal: Wife made a small (and delicious) ham. We settled in for the rest of the day, watched "The Amazing Race," anhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifd put the boys to bed.

I remember Easter being a big deal when I was younger. It's not anymore. Is it because we live someplace where the dominant religion doesn't celebrate Easter quite like Catholics do? Is it because we are far away from our extended families that gathered together without us? Or is it simply because I grew up? Easter was the centerpiece of about nine days off from Catholic school -- essentially, our spring break. Easter morning was a mildly big deal (not as big as Christmas, or course) as a kid, but requires little advance planning as an adult. We made a special meal but didn't go overboard.

Maybe the less eventful Easter is better in conveying the message behind the holiday -- after all, Mass seemed to be the central event of the day. That, and the extra V Chocolate peanut butter cup that the Easter Bunny brought.